


Saving Eachother

by Spoonzi



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: 4 + 1, Detective Partners, M/M, Mentions of Murder Case, RK1700 - Freeform, Saving eachother, Slight Violence, request
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:15:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22325413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spoonzi/pseuds/Spoonzi
Summary: The 4 times Connor saved Nines and the 1 time Nines saved Connor.
Relationships: Connor/Upgraded Connor | RK900, Minor Hank Anderson/Gavin Reed
Comments: 5
Kudos: 147





	Saving Eachother

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prize for a contest winner and friend of mine over on the DBH amino.

In the months after the android revolution a lot of things happened. Markus had been basically unanimously voted to be the android population’s leader and had begun to work with the human government to pass new laws and legislations concerning androids. With all of the legal issues and loose ends, there had been many hoops and loopholes they had needed to jump through before the androids got control of the Cyberlife facilities. 

In those months, when not helping Markus with anything he could, Connor worked to prove himself in the precinct. With their newly minted father/son relationship it was a liability to have Connor and Hank work together as partners. So, only two weeks after the revolution the android detective had stood in Fowler’s office new badge and gun in hand as well as what Hank liked to call a “shit-eating grin” on his face as he listened to Detective Reed’s very obvious, very loud opposition of having to be his new partner. Of course the whole thing was temporary while the Chief assessed how Connor worked after deviation, but no one was telling Reed when they could open a betting pool on it instead. Spoiler alert, Tina Chen cleaned out the pockets of several other uniforms and even a few jr detectives on that one— as well as a bet that her and Connor had started on how fast Hank and Gavin would get together after the Lieutenant got sober. 

Three months after the android revolution, the world felt like an entirely different place. Hank had begun dating Gavin a month prior and the prospect alone made Connor increasingly happy for the two of them. Tina had moved up the ranks and become a detective as well as Reed’s new partner leaving Connor without a partner but a proud detective no less. Markus and the android council had just gained control of the Cyberlife facilities and somehow he’d gotten Elijah Kamski himself to help in the design of models to come as well as some things for androids post deviancy to feel more human. The world just seemed to be getting nicer. 

The morning Connor had come in five months after the revolution, synthesized coffee in his hand and a content smile on his face, he was hit with a feeling he hadn’t had since he’d started fighting against deviancy. In Fowler’s glass box of an office stood a familiar android. An android that resembled Connor himself vaguely. Taller of course and with harder edges and features as well as cold blue eyes. Connor shifted uncomfortably and moved to set his Synth-Cafe on his desk hoping to avoid the RK900 that had been originally created to replace him. 

Fowler had leaned out of his office shouting ‘Anderson’ before Connor had even gotten his paper cup fully onto his coaster and with a wary look towards Hank’s empty desk the android made his way to the office. He’d never admit it but that short walk had felt almost like the approach to the metaphorical chopping block. Once inside the office that thought alone felt almost funny because the RK900 seemed to have no clue or remembrance as to who Connor even was. The new android didn’t exhibit the unstable amount of emotion —or much at all for that matter— that newly deviated androids seemed to, but he did attempt a smile when he introduced himself as ‘Nines’ Connor’s new partner. 

  
  


1

Nines was good at his job. He listened to Connor but didn’t let him walk over him, which Connor would never do anyway. He was deductive and good at reasoning. He had incredible aim and was an amazing fighter. Really, he seemed to be good at everything and he and Connor’s closing rate was higher than most of the teams in their precinct. 

Connor liked him. He was interesting in a way that the brown-eyed android had never really seen before. He was curious about everything and not afraid to ask about it. He had a dry sense of humor and he wasn’t great at emotion, but he was easy to be around and Connor understood his jokes. 

The thing is, Nines is absolutely terrible with people. He has friends, Tina Chen and North from the android council the most prominent, but he isn’t much good with the general public. He’s startlingly bad with social cues, though he has empathy he isn’t too good at showing it, and really he could be better at communication but he really is a good guy. Most people assume he’s a little quirky or he hasn’t gotten used to deviancy yet and are generally forgiving, then again, most of the people he had dealt with had been adults of the android sympathizing variety. 

Susan Ellis was seven years old and very obviously had no idea how to deal with Nines, especially through her grief. The girl had watched her mother get kidnapped that day after all so she was already in an emotionally vulnerable place. Connor had been scanning all the cameras around where Susan had told them it had happened when the girl had looked up from the cup of water she had been staring into. “Mister Nines? Is my mama gonna be okay?”

“Statistics show that your mother has a very high chance of living.” Nines responds and if he weren’t so obviously trying his hardest to make the little girl feel better, Connor may have laughed —good naturedly, of course— at the attempt. 

“What’s that ‘post to mean?” Susan’s voice trembles and tears start to escape her obviously shocking the blue-eyed android as he looks to his partner for help. 

Connor thinks fast recalling his skin over the hand he was using to interface with his monitor as he walks towards them swiping a fake flower from the pen holder on a very concerned looking Tina’s desk. He slides past his partner and kneels down in front of the little girl holding up the pink flower twirling it in front of her as he smiles reassuringly. “Susan, what Nines means to say to you is that he has a lot of faith that your mama is okay and we are going to try our best to find her.”

“You- you are?” She sniffles and stutters looking between him and the fake flower. 

“That’s right.” He assures her. “Nines and I are very good at finding people, but I need you to do something for me, okay?”

“Wh- what?” She hiccups reaching up to wipe at her big green eyes which are almost heartbreaking all on their own. 

“I need you to be strong for your mama because I’m sure when we find her the first thing that she is going to want to see is your smiling face, not your tears.” Connor reaches up and tucks the pink flower behind Susan’s ear. “Can you show me your smile? I bet it’s even prettier than this flower.”

Susan takes a deep breath in and smiles as big as she can showing a cute little gap between her front teeth. “Like this?”

“Just like that. Now, why don’t you go practice that big beautiful smile with Miss Tina? Rumor has it she’s been trying to find something for you to color.” Connor winks at the girl, causing her to gasp in delight and scuttle over to the woman in question. 

The brown-eyed android stands back up and dusts his slacks off as his partner speaks up. “How did you do that?”

“Believe it or not,” Connor huffs good naturedly as he adjusts his shoulder holster and grabs the bomber jacket he’d lifted out of Hanks closet, “Detective Reed was the one that helped me figure out how to deal with kids.”

He turns to look at Nines who gives him a look that reads ‘are we thinking about the same person here?’ causing him to laugh quietly and nod at the silent question. The blue-eyed android makes a little huh sound. “In any case, it seems that you saved me. Where are we headed?”

“I saw who took Susan’s Mother. She didn’t recognize him because he’s been in prison since she was about 1, but it’s her father.” Connor says sadly glancing to Tina’s desk where the little girl is coloring away. 

—In a little frame on Nines’ desk sits a crudely drawn picture of two men with brown hair. One curly and one straight, one with brown eyes and one with highlighter blue. It’s signed in purple crayon and the girl had spelled both of their names out in rainbow colors. Nines makes an effort to be better with children, even if he is still terrible with adults. 

  
  


2

They aren’t really doing anything the second time it happened. Really, they had been on the way back to the station after breaking up a band of violent protesters. The other officers had needed to squad cars to bring in the arrests and the two androids had simply just volunteered to walk. 

Connor had been babbling about some restaurant he and Hank had been to the weekend before which catered to both androids and humans. His eyes were wide and happy and he was waving his hands as he explained all of the different synthetic food tablets the place had offered. “They even have a tasting tray, Nines. You have to come next time!”

Nines had been paying so much attention to his partner that he hadn’t been paying any attention to anything else. He had opened his mouth to respond with an affirmative as he stepped onto the street. The next thing he knew Connor’s eyes were wide with fear instead of excitement. 

A hand wraps around his forearm and he gets yanked so hard back onto the sidewalk that they both go tumbling over. A car barrels past them not a second later. Big brown eyes and chestnut curls are all he sees and he doesn’t register why for a long moment until the grip around his arm releases and Connor scrambles up off of his chest. Huffing a breath, the smaller android gets to his feet and offers a hand to pull nines up as well. 

“If you didn’t want to go out with me you could’ve just said so.” The older android jokes before moving to cross the now green crosswalk leaving Nines standing in shock. 

—It takes three days and a conversation with Tina Chen for Nines to figure out that Connor was trying to ask him out. 

3

Murder cases are always stressful for the precinct. People who aren’t usually working together are butting heads. The whole unit is working double time to solve the case among all of the other work they must do. The press is so far up the Chief’s ass about the whole thing that he’s even crankier than normal. All around, murder cases are awful from the fact that someone has been murdered all the way to the chaos they bring. 

The shocking thing about it is that it’s Nines’ first press impacting murder since he joined the force. He’d experienced a robbery gone wrong that hadn’t had much coverage at all, he’d experienced a string of android murders as one of the secondaries to Tina and Gavin so he wasn’t in the spotlight, and he experienced a double homicide of two homeless men. Essentially, Nines had never been at the forefront of a case where the press were so heavily involved as this one. 

The woman who had been killed, Melinda McCarty, was a very famous singer and a highly influential android sympathizer. As soon as the press had heard, they had camped out at the scene of the crime and flocked to the front of the station every day waiting on word of what is happening with the case. Most of the officers and detectives were generally good at avoiding the press due to experience. Nines, though a very good detective, is both inexperienced in the matters of the press and terrible with people. 

This all leads to where he stands on the steps of the DPD surrounded by mics, phones, recorders, and cameras with a horde of people questioning him. He tries to focus his audio processors in on one voice as questions fly from the peoples’ mouths at rapid fire but he’s overwhelmed. That is until his hearing module focuses in on Connor’s smooth voice as the shorter android slips into the crowd beside him and grips his bicep. “Hello, my name is Detective Connor Anderson and this is my partner Nines. We are the lead Detectives of the McCarty case.”

People start up again throwing millions of questions at them at lightning speed and Connor just smiles patiently and politely before not answering any of them. “All you need to know is that all of our best detectives and officers are collaborating on the case and we are following several leads at the moment. The public will know as soon as we find the person responsible for this tragedy.”

The reporters and news anchors begin to ask more questions and the brown-eyed android simply holds up his hand. “That is all I’m willing to say at the moment, the longer I stay speaking with you the longer it takes us to find Miss McCarty’s killer.”

He proceeds to step forward dragging Nines with him and the crowd of people begin to reluctantly part. Some of them have the humanity to look a bit guilty, some continue to try and haggle answers from the androids. Once they get safely inside Nines take a large and unnecessary breath in relief. “You keep saving me.”

“Well, that’s my job.” Connor jokes easily as he takes a sip of his synthesized coffee. “I should have told you that during high profile cases it’s much safer to go in and out of the station through the door that connects to the parking garage.”

—Nines doesn’t comment when he notices Connor sticking closer to him when the press is around after that. 

4

As cliche as it sounds, the person who murdered Melinda McCarty was her ex-fiancé, a man named Johnson Levitte that she had broken off the engagement with after learning he was an android abuser. He’d killed her and fled to their own townhome a few hours away making him monumentally easy to find. 

Nines had been made with many close range fighting and hand to hand modifications in mind, as opposed to Connor’s prototype which had been made to be skilled with human relations and long ranged weapons. Really together they were an unstoppable team, in theory. The theory was made by Cyberlife though and however sound the logic was they didn’t account for one thing. 

Deviation. 

With deviancy came feeling things, free thought, and emotion. Deviancy came with many incredible and good things, but it also came with the ability to feel pain and the ability to fear. So, in theory, Nines should be able to get out of the gold that Levitte has on him, but the man has one hand pressed down on his power core and a gun digging into his temple ring directly over his processors. 

_ Nines is scared. More than scared, even. Terrified.  _

All he could do was stand there and look at his partner. Connor betrays no fear, and frankly he looks beautiful. His shoulders are squared and his gun is steady in his hands. His eyes are hard and his mouth is pressed thin. This morning he’d been the same as always, curls being barely held back with gel and molten caramel eyes filled with joy to go along with the garish 70s inspired shirt he was wearing— a style he’d no doubt gotten from his father figure. 

Now, he looked like a force to be reckoned with— even with his shorter, slighter frame in comparison to both Nines and Levitte. His gun is trained over the taller android’s shoulder at the murderer and his finger is poised over the trigger but he hasn’t taken the shot. He’s been trying to talk the human down and maybe it would work if he wasn’t an android. 

“Shut up, you stupid hunk of wires!” Johnson growls and the gun pushes harder into Nines’ temple as the man shifts behind him. He clenches his eyes shut. The man truly believed that it was androids that had taken Melinda away from him and he’d been erratic since they had cornered him. 

The shot that follows is deafening sending Nines’ auditory sensors into overdrive as he stumbles and falls forward. He firmly believes he is the one that has been shot until his sensors come back online and he hears Levitte’s moans and yowls behind him about his shoulder. Opening his eyes, Nines sees Gavin and Tina rush past him towards the criminal both giving him barely concealed glances of worry as Connor collapses in front of him jamming his Beretta back into his shoulder holster. 

He grabs the taller android’s shoulders and pushes him up so he can scan over him to make sure he hadn’t grazed him. He’s babbling things out at breakneck speed trying to explain himself and looking miserable. “The probability changed from me shooting you instead of him. It was at 19% and I just couldn’t take it but he moved and it was 97% and I just pulled the trigger. Ra9 I’m so sorry I didn’t thi-”

The blue-eyed android cuts his partner off leaning forward and slanting his lips across the curly haired male’s. When he pulls back, Connor is shocked into silence and it gives him a chance to speak. “Remember when you asked me out and I almost got hit by a car? I’d really like to go on that date now before you have to save me from certain death again.”

Connor nods looking positively thrilled. “Absolutely, yes. As soon as you kiss me again.”

—He doesn’t wait for Nines to try because he’s already pulling the other android down into another kiss. Somewhere near them Johnson begins to call them disgusting, Gavin ‘accidentally’ pushes him into a door frame and Tina wolf whistles. 

+1

The restaurant is charming and retro according to the reviews. It’s a small storefront type building between an Italian Bistro and a very fancy Frozen Yogurt Shoppe. The inside is a mix of booths and tall, circular, metal tables with blue barstools around them and on either side of them all framing a small checkerboard dance floor. The waitstaff are rolling around on rollerblades and you can see into the kitchen through a huge windowed wall. The reviews can definitely be trusted. 

Nines had chosen to not wear his usual Cyberlife issued uniform, which he found nothing wrong with, and instead had enlisted the help of Tina to find his outfit for he and Connor’s first date. He had to admit the black blazer and the blue, silk shirt were very comfortable and would probably be worn again. He straightens his blazer hand buttons a button as he slips out of the self-driving cab and walks into the building.

Looking around, he spots Connor at one of the high circular tables wearing a normal white shirt for once— though it’s matched with a mint green bow tie with white polka dots and a pair of mint green suspenders. The android looks increasingly uncomfortable and he is inched back as far as he can go in his chair without it falling. One of the waitresses has her arms braced on the table and she is leaned forward to speak to him seemingly way too close for comfort. 

Nines steps around the host’s podium and walks towards their table, gently tapping the redhead on the arm drawing her attention. “Miss? I believe you are making my date a bit uncomfortable.”

She flushes all the way up to her ears and apologizes before taking his drink order and making a hasty retreat. Taking his spot across from Connor, he smiles causing the other android to return with a stunning one of his own. “Thank you Nines, you saved me! As good with people as I am, I’m dreadful at handling people who flirt with me.”

“I guess it was my turn to save you.” The blue-eyed man says before leaning forward to tap the laminated menu. “What do you suggest?”

—Neither android notices that their waitress had switched tables due to them being far too enthralled with each other. 


End file.
